By Laurie Niles: Recently Hilary Hahn drew some attention for taking a vow to practice every day for 100 days - and documenting that on Instagram.![Hilary Hahn practicing]()
Though some thought this was no big deal for a pro violinist, I found it both commendable and inspirational. Sure, people talk about practicing, but how many truly "walk the walk" and show that level of devotion?
By documenting it day-by-day, she also provided an example of what devotion looks like: it's not easy and it's not glamorous. On some days she's dressed up and exuberant, on others she is rather tired, or has to work around a bandaid on a sore finger. She also shows us that practicing for her is a lot like practicing for the rest of us: slow practice and fast practice; tedious technical work; repetition; open strings; no vibrato, yes vibrato; passage-by-passage detail work. On many days she has very fixed goals; but occasionally there is that day when it's "no pressure, no goals," just playing, or even just listening to a previous performance. Basically, it's steady work and commitment.
Have you ever succeeded in practicing daily for a fixed amount of days? What is your longest stretch of daily practice? Please share your answer (choosing the longest stretch you practiced) and then also tell us about it in the comments. How many days did you go? What were the biggest challenges? Did it help your playing? Was it part of a challenge?
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